PLUTOCRATIC PROPAGANDA EXHIBITED

KNEEL AT THE FEET OF PRIVATE EQUITY AND HEDGE FUNDS, YOU LITTLE PEOPLE!

To enforce its perverse and self serving way of thinking, the plutocracy of the USA uses opinion makers who teach TRUE THINK. Thomas Friedman is one of these notorious servants of the wealthy. He pushed for the invasion of Iraq as much as he could, but he is not done yet. According to these supporters of wealth, most of the population of the USA is good if it serves the wealthiest of the Rich. By law, the present day USA is organized according to this credo: the richest pay a maximum of 15% tax when they invest in "hedge funds" and "private equity" structured investment vehicles reserved to them (by law again: in the USA law is by the Rich, for the Rich). The laws passed during the Great Depression against money making ever more money were repealed by the happy crew of Rubin-Summers-Geithner-Greenspan (with various "republicans" helping).

Some, of course, will say that I exaggerate, that I am biased, hard to take seriously. So here is Mr. Friedman, March 10, 2009, in the New York Times, faithfully mouthing the line of the Bush-Obama administration. Please read him:

"As for President Obama, I like his coolness under fire, yet sometimes it feels as if he is deliberately keeping his distance from the banking crisis ... This will likely require some degree of government subsidy to PRIVATE EQUITY GROUPS and HEDGE FUNDS to get them to make the first bids for these toxic assets by GUARANTEEING THEY WILL NOT LOSE. This could make great policy sense, but be a nightmare to sell politically. It will strike many as another unfair giveaway to Wall Street.

Unfortunately, the president may have to look the American people in the eye and explain that “FAIRNESS IS NOT ON THE MENU ANYMORE.” All that’s on the menu now is whether or not we avoid a system meltdown — and this will require rewarding some new investors."

To this obscenity, I replied with the following (published as a comment to Friedman by the NYT, the same day):

Hedge funds and private equity are not the solution, they are the problem. The world economy is presently been destroyed because Summers and Geithner want to save those. No, they will not tell you this, and they will not look you in the eye.

Nationalizing the giant insolvent banks ought to mean that they would be separated from their bank holding companies, the hedge funds, the private equity, the CDS, the SIVs, etc. All deposits should be insured, whatever the amount (as in France). The nationalized banks would then be very profitable businesses, and plenty of buyers would show up (if nothing else, giant profitable banks from overseas). Then the USA as a State could sell them (at one time, or progressively). There are thousands of profitable banks in the USA with competent managements that would be delighted to take over pieces of Citigroup, B of A, JP Morgan... The four largest insolvent banks control now two-third of USA banking.

What to do with the craziest derivatives that presently sinking the banks? Just declare them null and void, because they were not lawful to start with. If this can be done on worldwide basis in London in April at the G20 summit. Problem solved. Who is in the way? Those who created the problem to start with, Geithner, Summers and company, 11 years ago.

Patrice Ayme
http://patriceayme.wordpress.com/